Complex Yearlong Associations Between Mental Toughness and Sport-Specific Practice Among Adolescent Estonian Volleyball Players

Abstract

This study tested the reciprocal associations between mental toughness (MT) and sport-specific practice (SSP) among 163 adolescent Estonian volleyball players who completed self-reported measures of MT and SSP within a 2-year, three-wave longitudinal research design. Higher MT was associated with higher SSP hours at baseline, and changes in MT and SSP were also significantly interrelated across data from both males and females. These findings have implications for the importance of SSP to increase MT, though future research should replicate this study with other participant samples.